Jim Wozniak Senior vice president – financial advisor RBC Wealth Management Nonprofit served: Father Gene’s Help Center Service: Board vice president and volunteer Wozniak In the 1970s and 80s, the late Jesuit priest Father Gene Jakubek was as close as you could get to being a Catholic celebrity without being the
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In the 1970s and 80s, the late Jesuit priest Father Gene Jakubek was as close as you could get to being a Catholic celebrity without being the Pope himself – at least here in Milwaukee.
So, when investment advisor Jim Wozniak learned that the priest – who at the time was the chaplain for the Milwaukee Bucks – would be speaking at Marquette University on Valentine’s Day in 1987, the newlywed brought his wife.
“What he preached was all common sense, but it really struck a chord with me,” Wozniak recalls. “He said that when people are getting into trouble, that means they’ve got too much free time on their hands. He encouraged anyone there to stop down at Father Gene’s Help Center. ‘I’ll put you to work,’ he said.”
Inspired by the priest’s call, Wozniak showed up the very next Sunday to lend a helping hand at the long-running West Allis nonprofit, which provides free clothing to those in need.
“Before long, I was (on the board) and doing everything at the help center,” Wozniak said.
Then, in May 1989, Fr. Jakubek showed up at Wozniak’s home with a coffee can and a bunch of keys. He explained that he was being asked to leave Milwaukee, allegedly due to his romantic involvement with a woman, and asked Wozniak to take over the Help Center’s operations and “never let it die,” he recalls.
Over the past 35 years, Wozniak, a senior vice president at Milwaukee-based RBC Wealth, has done his best to keep that promise, working to usher in changes to better serve the more than 15,000 people per year who count on the organization for clothes, coats and shoes for themselves and their families.
He owes part of those changes to the leadership of other board members, including past president Brian Garrow, who suggested a few years ago that the nonprofit allow people to come into the storefront at 5919 W. National Ave. and make their own selections, rather than packaging and shipping orders based on size and preferences.
These days, Wozniak, who now serves as board vice president, tries to help in any way he can – whether that’s volunteering at the center on Saturdays or calling in favors to acquire new shoes and coats.
“I’ve had connections with Kohl’s department store where I’d walk in and they’d say, ‘Oh, Jim, you’re here for the Help Center. Let’s go shopping,’” Wozniak said. “I had a personal shopper there, and she would say, ‘Jim, we just got an overrun on this. You can have these for a song. You want them?’”
Another time, he got 10,000 pairs of shoes through his connection with Jim Sajdak, owner of Stan’s Fit for Your Feet.
A few years ago, Wozniak worked with fellow board members to convert a front portion of the Help Center into a designated shopping area for clients.
Sometimes, helping out means braving the elements to clear the property’s sidewalks of ice and snow, like on a Saturday in January when Wozniak saw five people from Nicaragua walking down the street in shorts and flipflops. It didn’t matter that the Help Center was technically closed.
“I’m like, ‘you know what? We have free clothes right here. The only thing between them and the clothes is this locked door,’” Wozniak said. “I opened the door and used Google translator to help them shop, and I will tell you, we made their day.”